The Reality of Dreams (The Chocolate Factory)
by Zephyr Fyrian
Summary: Judy Hopps is tired. VERY tired. With her enormous workload, her parents complaining about her partner, and her crush on said partner, Judy is overwhelmed. But this week is different from other, because Judy has been plagued with restless dreams that end in Nick preparing to bite her, and she's beginning to become concerned. NickxJudy
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N) Why is it called 'The Chocolate Factory'? Because my brother is a lunatic, that's why. It has nothing to do with actual chocolate, sorry.**

**This story was written for my brother, because he's obsessed with NickxJudy, so feel free to thank him for this story's existence. Thanks, bro!**

**This fic is rated M for some vaguely sexual stuff later on, but even then it's more violence than anything else. Obviously I couldn't put anything sex stuff in here because it _is _written for my bro, and he's an ace boi so he'd be very uncomfortable.**

**Also, if you have any good NickxJudy fanfic recommendations, he's always looking for more to read, so they'd be much appreciated. **

**P.S. i got paid for writing this**

**Happy Reading!**

* * *

**_The Reality of Dreams_**

_The Chocolate Factory_

A pair of grey furry ears drooped over Clawhauser's desk, causing him to look up from his computer screen, on which he had been searching for fast food places open past ten.

"Judy?" he peeked over the edge of his desk, fairly certain it was in fact she that had collapsed onto his desk.

"Evening, Clawhauser," the bunny greeted, her voice slightly muffled.

"Are you…okay?" he asked, frowning in concern for his smallish-type friend.

"Just tired," Judy assured him, punctuating this statement with a yawn.

"Been working yourself too hard?" Clawhauser smiled sympathetically. Judy had a tendency to work until Chief Bogo kicked her out and yelled at her to go home.

"Something like that," Judy agreed vaguely, waving to him and she padded towards the exit.

"Should I tell Nick you'll be coming in late tomorrow?" Clawhauser called after her. "You know, if you wanted to catch some extra shut-eye."

Clawhauser didn't notice how Judy froze up a bit when he mentioned Nick, nor did he think she'd agree to his offer.

"Yeah, thanks," she said a few seconds later, turning back a shooting the chubby cheetah a tired smile. "More shut-eye sounds real nice right about now. I'll be in no later than ten thirty."

Clawhauser sighed and laughed a bit to himself as the bunny walked out of the station. She usually came in a four in the morning, before he'd even gotten there, and by the time he was there she was already on her sixth cup of coffee.

That bunny was going to kill herself with all that caffeine.

Chuckling, Clawhauser turned back to his computer where he began typing out a message to Officer Wilde about his sleepy partner.

"Goodness," he muttered to himself as he wrote. "When will those two go out? They're perfect for each other!"

* * *

In truth, Judy hadn't been entirely honest with Clawhauser. Was she tired from work? Sure, but she loved work and wouldn't want to stop her crazy schedule for the world. She loved her assignments, she loved her co-workers, she loved all the coffee she drank (and probably should stop drinking, it wasn't good for her teeth), but most of all, she loved her partner.

Possibly too much.

Before a few weeks ago, Judy's teeny-weeny little crush on Nick was manageable. Was it irritating to watch him flirt with other ladies? Of course it was. Did she get nervous around him? Of course she did. But if there was one thing Judy was good at, it was being professional.

Well, okay, she did tend to wear her heart on her sleeve, but for the most part, she was a star student. Star officer, that is.

This week, however, had made her life miserable.

For starters, Nick had announced that he had finally landed a date with a vixen who worked at a flower shop a couple blocks from the station. Delightful.

Second, her horrible sleep schedule had begun to catch up with her, and she was sleeping later and later everyday, and had to compensate by drinking butt-loads of coffee while at work, and that was definitely _not _good for her health.

Not to mention her father and mother had come to visit, and had not been overly thrilled with the fact that her partner was a fox, although Bonnie had been a little more coherent than Stu, who'd simply spluttered for fifteen minutes before leaving the apartment to 'get some fresh air'.

But fresh air, Judy was fairly certain he meant alcohol, but she couldn't be certain.

Bonnie had left saying that she'd be in touch about the fox thing, and that Judy really needed to be safer out here in the big scary world.

Judy had to repress her eye-rolls.

And then, after her parents had finally left, Judy had showered, listened to Gazelle's EP that had just come out, and researched auto-theft in the past decade to see if she could crack her current case: a bunch of car thefts in Tundra Town with seemingly no connection except for the fact that they'd all been stolen on the same night, six minutes and eighteen point four five nine seconds apart from each other.

They hadn't been able to locate any of the missing vehicles aside from one, a van found in a ditch by a frozen river, and the entire ZPD was confused by the coincidental thefts.

After finishing up her research and Gazelle's EP for the twenty-third time, Judy had put on her sleepwear and settled down in her uncomfortable bed to sleep.

When she'd shown Nick her apartment he'd been horrified by it. The tiny bathroom, the tiny bed, the tiny microwave; he'd stared in horror at the place for several seconds before saying: _"Carrots, for someone so put together, your apartment sure is falling apart."_

Judy had had trouble falling asleep that night, tossing and turning all night even though her usually rowdy neighbors were quite quiet.

And then, when she did finally fall asleep, she'd had the strangest and most disturbing dream she'd ever had.

She'd been in a dark room, probably hunting some bad guy, when she'd heard a growl and jumped, pulling out her gun.

A voice spoke then, startling her so much she'd nearly dropped her gun.

"_Look at this little, helpless bunny. She thinks she can fight off a big, bad predator with her tiny little paws."_

It had been _Nick's _voice that had spoken to her, sounding somewhere between teasing and threatening.

He'd taunted her several more times, before she'd been knocked to the ground by his much larger body, his snarls now much closer to her big ears. What had disturbed her the most was how afraid, yet unafraid she was.

It wasn't that she wasn't afraid, because _sweet cheese and crackers _was she, it was the fact that she liked being afraid that unnerved her.

She remembered his claws scraping over her arms, and knowing that he was going to bite her neck, but then she'd woken up before it'd happened.

She'd sat there in her bed, panting, before shooting to the shower to pout bucket of cold water down on herself.

No. Nick biting and clawing her and acting all predatory was _not _sexy. She refused to even entertain the thought.

And, then she'd had the same dream again the next night, and the next night, and the next night, and they all ended just before he bit her. Blueberries and cheese fries, couldn't _anything _in her life go right?

Judy sighed as she entered her apartment, tossing her phone and earbuds over onto her little end table before retreating to the bathroom to shower.

As the semi-warm water doused her short fur, Judy contemplated her dreams. Had they just been feverish and the product of sleep-deprivation? Crackers, she hoped so. And she also hoped they didn't stop, because she felt like a million bucks when she was terrified Nick was going to bite her in half.

Oh dear, this needed to stop.

Stepping out of the shower, Judy grabbed a tower and wrapped it around herself, careful to wring her ears out before she flopped water all over the place. Trotting over to her tiny sink, Judy picked up her toothbrush and began scrubbing her teeth.

Speaking of teeth, she wondered if Nick's teeth were are sharp as they-

NO.

Judy slammed her toothbrush down so hard it snapped in two, sending the half with the brush head flying across the room to land in the toilet with a _plop!_

"Ugh, great," Judy moaned, debating about whether or not she wanted to deal with this now. Figuring she might as well get it over with, she plodded over to the toilet and carefully fished the toothbrush head out with a now-soggy unrolled cardboard tube from a toilet paper roll.

As she threw both pieces of toothbrush into the trash, making a mental note to pick a new one up from the store the next morning, her ears jumped up at the sound of her phone ringing.

She dashed into the other room, some part of her hoping it was Nick.

It wasn't. It was her parents.

Judy groaned, grimacing. Should she accept the call? They'd just berate her about Nick and talk about getting her transferred to the Bunnyburrow police force, or about how she should sign up for this stupid app for single bunnies because according to Bonnie, 'all bunnies who are single and over the age of eighteen are clearly doing something wrong in their lives'.

Thanks, Mom.

On the other paw, it would postpone going to sleep, and of course once again reliving that dream, which she hadn't quite decided was good or bad.

"Just answer it!" one of her neighbors shouted through the wall.

"Hey, leave her alone!" the other replied. "She's just uncomfortable with her weird dreams!"

"Oh shut up!"

"You shut up!"

"You shut up!"

"Both of you shut up!" Judy yelled back at them, which surprisingly worked.

Sighing heavily, Judy pressed the answer button and prepared the fake smile she'd have to hold for the next hour and a half.

"_Judy?" _Bonnie was holding the phone, with Stu looking over her shoulder.

"Hi Mom, hi Dad," Judy grinned wider, trying to disguise her sleepiness. "How's the burrow?"

"_Oh, it's- Monica, stop pulling Jacky's ears!" _Bonnie yelled to someone Judy couldn't see before turning back to the camera. _"It's as hectic as it usually is. How about you? How's work? Did they get you a new partner yet?"_

Judy buried her sigh and simply settled for rolling her eyes.

"Mom, I'm not getting a new partner," she chuckled, trying to diffuse any building tension.

"_Could they not get anyone to transfer?" _Bonnie scowled. _"Well, I'll just have to-"_

"No, Mom," Judy interrupted, massaging her temple with one paw. "I don't want another partner. Nick's great, and I'd appreciate it if you'd stop being so rude to him."

"_I wasn't being rude!" _Bonnie exclaimed, sounding appalled. _"I never meant to come across that- oh, Judy, I just want you to be safe! I know you want to make your own decisions out there in the big world, but-"_

"_Your mother has a point," _Stu added from behind her. _"Foxes are dangerous, Jude."_

"Wha- you trust Gideon," Judy reminded them, scoffing. "What's so different about Nick?"

"_Judy," _Bonnie frowned, glancing back at her husband. _"Judy, we trust Gideon because we know Gideon. We don't however know this Nick fellow, and-"_

"_And we haven't heard the nicest things about him, Judes," _Stu finished, blinking at Judy through the phone screen. _"Most of the mammals we've asked about him say he's a really sketchy con artist. I think you'd best steer clear of-"_

"I know he used to do some bad stuff," Judy pulled at her ears. "But Nick's-"

"_You knew?!" _Bonnie shrieked, nearly splitting Judy's eardrums. _"Judy, you knew how untrustworthy he was, and you still accepted him as your partner? That's incredibly irresponsible, young doe, now-"_

"Yes, Mom," Judy said loudly. "I _did _know that Nick _used _to be a good-for-nothing lowlife who had nothing better to do than sell illegal popsicles to lemmings. But Nick has changed, okay? He's a really good guy, and I'm not changed my opinion. I'm sorry if you disagree, but I'm going with my gut here. Goodnight, Mom and Dad."

Not waiting for an answer, Judy hung up, dropping her phone back onto the desk.

Why couldn't her parents just get it? What as it about foxes that they couldn't reconcile? Judy, rubbed her temples, standing up and moving to her bed, onto which she flopped down and closed her eyes. Did she want to try and sleep? Did she? She'd just end up with another one of those crazy dreams.

Unfortunately for her, she didn't get much of a choice, as her caffeine crash came just seconds later, causing her to pass out almost immediately.

* * *

Judy groaned, sitting up in her bed. It was still mildly dark outside, with barely any light, not even moonlight, filtering in through the large window by her bed.

She shook her head, lying back down to try and fall back asleep when she remembered that her apartment didn't have a big window.

Her head swung to the window in question, now looking oddly sinister, though nothing had changed.

"Feeling a bit off balance, Carrots?"

Judy whirled, looking around the room frantically, but it was too dark to see anything.

"Nick?" she called, feeling her heart start to pound.

"Yes, prey girl?" Nick's voice called back, the dark tones in his voice causing her to scoot back on the bed a bit. "Are you scared?"

Judy flinched back as she felt the bed shudder with his weight, and she could hear him stalking closer.

"Are you afraid that I'll catch you when you run?" a low growl echoed in the room. "That I'll hunt you down and capture you, your tiny, helpless body caught between my sharp teeth, just moments away from-"

Judy sensed his jumped before he jumped, springing out of the way of his grasping claws seconds before he pounced on her. She landed on the ground in what she figured was a rather undignified heap, her breath having been knocked out of her.

"Nice try, prey thing," Nick mocked, laughing a bit as he jumped down to the floor on all fours, as Judy could see the faint moonlight glinting off his fur.

Cheeses, sticks and fiddlewhips, he _wasn't wearing clothes._

"Come here, little prey girl," he cooed, stalking closer. "It'll be easier if you don't resist. I can just bite your neck and it'll all be over, leaving your body for me to devour."

He took a long, overly dramatic sniff of the air.

"Mmm, yes," he chuckled, swishing his thick tail behind him. "You smell so delicious, bunny. I can just imagine how your flesh will tear sweetly from your bones, ripping in my strong jaws."

Judy squeaked in alarm and jumped away, not even realizing she was now hopping on all fours and that the room had faded away, leaving only an endless expanse of blackness.

She could hear the sounds of Nick running behind her, and she knew that unless she found a hiding place soon she was done for.

"I'm going to catch you, bunny," he laughed, though it was a mix between a laugh and a growl. "And when I do, I'm going to rake my claws over your stomach, making you bleed. I can already taste it now, such sweet and savory flavors mixing together. You should be flattered, prey, I'm obsessed with devouring you."

Judy wasn't sure if she was flattered or not, which vaguely bothered her. She should be running for her freaking life, not slowing down a bit on purpose so he could catch her!

…Wait. _Slowing down on purpose!?_

Judy realized she'd slowed down seconds before she felt sharp claws dig into her back.

She shrieked, falling to the ground with Nick's heavy weight on top of her, but the sensation was not all that unpleasant. In fact, it almost…aroused her?

Okay, nope nope nope nope nope, it was time for Judy to leave the building.

However, considering she had a fox who weighed twice what she did sitting on top of her, she figured that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

"Well, well, well, prey," Nick gave one of her ears a sharp nip. "Looks like the big strong predator caught you, didn't he? And now I'm going to bite your neck and rip you apart, tearing your delicious flesh off and devouring it, savoring every taste."

Judy whimpered, although at this point she was unsure if it was because she was afraid or because she liked it.

Claws dug into her back, sharp teeth dragged over her neck before he pulled back and snarled.

"I win, little prey girl."

* * *

"Sweet deep-fried butter dipped in cheese and breadcrumbs."

* * *

**(A/N) There really aren't words for how I feel about this one. It's okay, but I'm not really into the whole predator/prey thing except in some cases.**

**I mostly did this for the coffee my brother is buying me for writing this.**

**I may write more installments to this, but probably only if I get paid to.**

**Thanks for reading and have a great day! :3**


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N) So my computer is being dumb and I'm using my mom's laptop to post this. I couldn't get anything to happen when I turned the PC on, so oh well.**

**Anyway, I'm getting paid for this one too (my brother's buying me a croissant), so yay!**

**I think I'll start answering reviews now, since this appears to be becoming an ongoing story, so if you have questions or anything leave a review and I should get to it (i'll have to write more if i want another croissant).**

**Jenn: I also want to know where this is going, and thank you! :3**

**Guest: I hope you continue to read it. As I said up there, I also am curious as to where this story is going(i have no idea).**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

Judy groaned, rubbing her eyes. She was sitting at her desk, her fourteenth cup of coffee steaming beside her, sleep threatening to take her away any second.

"You okay there, Carrots?"

Judy felt a shiver run down her spine, every sense on 'Nick-alert'.

"Yep, just fine," she spun her chair around to smile tiredly at her partner, barely even registering the red fur before spinning back around. "Just been working long hours, that's all."

"You really ought to take some time off," Nick snickered good-naturedly, and Judy could swear she _heard _him roll his eyes. "You're going to drive yourself crazy staying up on this case. Relax, Fluff, we've got this; our whole sector's working on this case."

"Yeah, yeah," Judy waved a paw absently, trying to get him to shut up. "Back to work, Slick."

Judy squeaked in surprise when she felt a paw rest on her shoulder, turning her around.

"Not until you get some rest, Fluff," Nick said sternly, all but forcing her to abandon her chair and her coffee. Oh, that poor coffee.

"Nick-" Judy started to protest, wiggling her shoulders to free herself from his grip. "Nick, I'm fine. You know I've looked worse before."

Nick pushed her little cross-body bag into her arms, leading her toward the door.

"Only time you've looked worse was when you got drunk and threw up in the second floor supply closet," Nick argued, proceeding to lead her out into the main lobby. "Come on, Carrots, go home and get some shut-eye. It'll do ya a world of good."

Judy finally managed to slip out of Nick's grasp, stumbling towards the exit herself.

"Thanks, Nick," she called back sleepily, stifling a yawn. Crackers, she needed rest. But of course, she knew she wouldn't be getting any; not with her current dream situation.

Sweet honey buns and freshly baked banana bread, she needed help.

"_Maybe I should see a therapist," _she thought as she walked back towards her apartment, trying to keep her mind away from thinking about Nick and the dreams.

Her large ears perked up when she felt her phone vibrate and, yawning as she did so, she took it out of her bag.

_Nick: hey_

_Nick: beth and i are going to get drinks tonight if you're awake by then_

_Nick: we'll be at the saberfang bar at 7:30_

_Nick: sleep well carrots ;)_

Judy narrowed her eyes at the screen, shoving her phone back into her bag without even unlocking it to respond to the texts.

It felt like a sliver of ice dug itself into her heart whenever someone mentioned Bethany, the vixen that Nick was currently seeing. It seemed everyone in the precinct knew her; she once brought violets into the station every day for two months to make a statement against the police force always trampling people's gardens during chases.

Bogo hadn't been amused, but ever since she'd had a reputation.

And of course, Nick had to ask her out. And, because everyone already knew her, they teased Nick about it, they talked to Nick about it, and Nick seemed perfectly unaware of Judy's quiet crush; either that or he didn't care, and Judy knew he wasn't the type to do that.

Muttering bitterly to herself, Judy pushed open the door to her apartment and tossed her keys down onto the end table, knocking her earbuds onto the floor with a clatter.

She narrowed her eyes at the fallen item, grumbling as she bent to pick it up. She didn't bother to undress, instead simply falling onto the hard mattress with a groan.

If she was going to have a crazy dream, then she was going to get it over with now.

The scent of blueberries filled Judy's nostrils and she opened her eyes, sniffing around to find where the smell originated. She paid no mind to the fact that she wasn't wearing clothes nor that she was walking on all fours; she was purely focused on those blueberries.

She hopped curiously through the underbrush, following her nose, admiring the flowering plants she came across and the small lizards and insects that skittered out of her path.

Soon enough she came upon the blueberry bush in all of its delicious glory, and proceeded to stuff her face full of them.

It was at this point that she realized what she was doing and that she clearly wasn't in Zootopia anymore, and whirled around in alarm.

Heavenly crackers and carrot pie, where the hell was this?

"Ahem,"

Judy gave a start and hopped backwards rapidly, trying to discern where the voice had come from.

"This is _my _blueberry bush, and I'd appreciate if you'd stop stealing from it."

Oh no. Great blueberry bunnies _no_.

A lithe fox slunk out from the underbrush, intelligent green eyes narrowed at her.

"I'm sorry," Judy blurted, beginning to back away. "I didn't realize this was your territory, I'll just go now, okay?"

Nick snarled, freezing her in place.

"I don't think so, little bunny," he snickered, stalking closer. "I've found a much more filling meal."

Oh shit.

Judy squeaked and bolted, running as fast as her legs would carry her. She could hear Nick running behind her, his growls frightening her into fleeing even faster.

"I'm going to catch you, prey," he warned, jaws snapping at her short tail. "I'm going to sink my fangs into your soft neck, feel you writhe beneath me, hear your screams cut off as you choke on your own blood."

"I'd rather you not, hey?" Judy shot back weakly, hopping over fallen logs and rocks with ease, hoping to lose him.

She didn't.

"I'm going to claw your stomach open and devour your sweet flesh," the tip of a claw grazed her side, causing her to squeal and run faster, adrenaline pumping through her veins at light speed.

Judy screamed as weight fell heavy on her back, sharp claws cutting into her sides painfully.

"There, that's better," Nick snickered behind her. "Are you scared, little prey girl? Ha, you'll be scared soon; you'll thrash, whimper, plead with me to let you go, now won't you? I'm not going to, though. I'm going to snap your neck with my jaws, tearing that soft flesh off of your small, weak bones."

Judy laid her ears flat over her head, trying to block out his voice.

"Done fighting then, bunny?" he growled, claws digging into her skin. "Lovely. Submit to me like a good bunny; lay there helplessly while I feast on your body, ripping it open and devouring every last scrap of flesh, lapping up every last drop of blood…"

Judy shut her eyes tightly, waiting for it to end.

Sharp teeth sank into her neck, pain shooting through her body, causing her to involuntarily spasm.

This wasn't supposed to happen, it wasn't supposed to get this far!

…and why did it sort of feel good?

Claws raked over her skin, leaving red, bloody marks on the short fur, but Judy didn't feel the pain, all she felt was…a strange thrill.

The pressure on her neck increased, the feeling of suffocation growing until she couldn't breath; hot, thick liquid bubbling up and spluttering out of her mouth as she tried to.

And then there was a snap, and all went black.

Eyes flying open, Judy sat bolt upright in her bed, her heart pounding.

"Hey, you okay in there?!"

Judy flinched, before realized it was the voice of her loud obnoxious neighbor. At least there was only one-

"Shut up! She just had a crazy dream!"

"You shut up!"

"You shut up!"

Judy groaned, rubbing her paws over her eyes tiredly. Hoppin' biscuits, what time was it? She looked over at her clock, ears falling flat against her head when she saw it read 7:15. She _could _just tell Nick she'd slept too long and that was why she missed it, but then she'd feel guilty and end up admitting her lie anyway.

Moldy onions.

Judy dragged herself out of bed, grabbing her favorite pink flannel as she made her way to the bathroom to change.

She pulled off her police uniform, grimacing as she saw all the sweat stains covering it; buttered toast was that a violent dream.

She debated for a moment just putting her clothes on and leaving, before deciding to take a quick shower to wash all the sweat off, regarding her body as she walked past the mirror and being vaguely surprised when she didn't see blood dripping off of her.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts and get rid of the sleep, she turned the shower on and jumped in, squeaking a bit at the shock of cold water. As she lathered her fur, she wondered where her dreams had come from; were simply a product of sleep-deprivation? Or was there something else going on?

These thoughts continued to swirl around her head as she stepped out of the shower, quickly drying herself off and slipping into a pair of jeans and her flannel before grabbing her phone and locking up her apartment, leaving her neighbors to argue in peace.

As she glanced down at her phone's screen, she noticed she'd gotten a few new messages.

_[7:13] Mom: Hi there hon, I know you've been busy lately, and I'm sure…_

_[7:12] Ben sent a photo_

_[7:12] Ben: Just LOOK at that shirt!_

_[7:12] Ben: GOODNESS_

_[7:12] Ben: M_

_[7:12] Ben: O_

_[7:08] Nick: are you up?_

_[7:08] Nick: beth and i just got here_

Judy sighed, slipping her phone back into her jean pocket. She'd answer those later.

Zootopia at night was truly a wondrous sight. Every building was lit up, sending waves of neon flashing through the night, lighting up the darkened sky. Cars whizzed by, reflecting the kaleidoscope of colors, many of them adding to the brightness with their headlights and taillights.

Judy yawned, heading towards Saberfang, the bar most of her coworkers frequented, and the most well known bar in this Quadrant.

Through her tiredness, her eyes drooping, she accidentally ran straight into a wolf who was walking towards the bar as well.

"Whoa," he stepped back, peering down at her. "Hey bunny, you drunk? You might wanna catch a taxi home."

"What?" Jud glanced up, yawning again. "No, I'm just tired. I'm meeting a friend here."

"Ah," the wolf nodded, cheerily walking into the bar before calling over his shoulder, "Still, if you get drunk, call a cab!"

Shaking her head in amusement, Judy entered the bar, groaning as she was immediately assaulted with lights and sound and the smell of alcohol.

* * *

**(A/N) Expect to see more of that wolf, he'll coming around some. **

**Well I hope you enjoyed this update, see you next croissant! :3**


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